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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead Videos

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead Photos

Movie Info

Living in the back room of his father's doctors office, broke, frustrated ladies man Julian (Jake Hoffman)scores his big break when he lands the job directing an off Broadway version of Hamlet. Except it's a bizarre adaptation written by a pale Romanian impresario named Theo(John Ventimiglia) who is actually a master vampire! Theo hopes to lure the real Hamlet (Kris Lemche) out of hiding so the two can end a centuries long feud over Shakespeare's Ophelia. Meanwhile, Julian pines for his ex-girlfriend, Anna (Devon Aoki) who is dating a Mobster Bobby Bianchi (Ralph Macchio) intent on creating the next great invention - "Whack a Germ". Added into the mix is a dimwitted Detective (Jeremy Sisto), the Holy Grail, the Rosicrucian Society, a bunch of Sexy Vamps, God and a score by Sean Lennon and you've got the perfect mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Terry Gilliam, Dude Where's My Car and Woody Allen all in one fantastic film! -- (C) Indican

All of the riffs are twice and thrice removed, but the effect is lively rather than tiresome, largely on the strength of game performances, Sean Lennon's atmospheric score, and writer/director Jordan Galland's clear affection for his sources.

A clever title in search of a movie to support it, this playful mash-up of Shakespeare and vampires aims for the type of brain-twisting meta-plot that Charlie Kaufman has all but monopolized. Mr. Kaufman makes it look easy. It's not.

Audience Reviews for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead

A vampire hires a low-rent director to direct a version of Hamlet involving vampires and the Holy Grail.
Aside from being frightfully dull, uneven, and genuinely unfunny, this film suffers from the construction of the main character, played by Jake Hoffman, who is so disaffected that it is almost impossible to sympathize with him. And the love story is poorly developed; what the connection between these two is or how they resolve their conflicts remains a mystery.
The story attempts to be a satire - I think - of off-off-Broadway, avant garde theater. The film contends that anything will fly in these venues, and that's true to some degree, but there's nothing funny about this thesis, and it's not presented in an original way. Shadow of the Vampire was far scarier and clearer in its barbs. Overall, this film is a boring, unfunny chore to watch.

Jim Hunter

Super Reviewer

½

Pretty entertaining, though kinda weird and confusing at times. Sometimes the humor works, sometimes it doesn't, however. To be fair, when it works, it can be really funny, and even when it doesn't work, it's not too bad (I've seen films fail far worse in this department). Jake Hoffman is pretty good in the lead role, but Devon Aoki really steals the spotlight. On a side note, though his character is kinda weird in the beginning, Ralph Macchio did a great job overall is his supporting role. I like the ending sequence of the film, but unfortunately, the middle section kinda feels rushed...I really wish more time was spent on the play, and more to the point, on developing some of the characters. While the two main characters are pretty well fleshed out, there's a ton of other characters in this film (a good amount of whom are really important to the storyline) that aren't fleshed out enough in my opinion. Still entertaining though.